Acute effects of low-volume intermittent versus higher-volume continuous exercise on arterial stiffness in healthy young men

Zhixiong Zhou,Weili Zhu,Mengnan Cui,Lindong Hou,Laurent Mourot

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-05800-z

Abstract

To compare the acute effects of low-volume intermittent and higher-volume continuous exercise on arterial stiffness, 20 healthy men (22.4 ± 0.4 years) were randomized to non-exercise control (CON), high-volume Continuous Exercise (CE), lower-volume Intermittent exercise of Long bouts with Long interval (ILL), of Long bouts with Short interval (ILS), and of Short bouts with Short interval trial (ISS). Exercise intensity was 35% heart rate reserve. Arterial stiffness in Cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was measured at baseline (BL), immediately (0 min) and 40 min after exercise. CAVI changes from BL in the same trial (⊿CAVI) were used for analysis. There was no significant ⊿CAVI change in CON. ⊿CAVI decreased significantly at 0 min in all exercise trials, and reverted to baseline at 40 min only in CE and ILL. At 40 min, ⊿CAVI in ILS and ISS remained significantly lower than that of CON and CE. When ILS and ISS were compared with CON at 40 min, only ⊿CAVI in ISS remained significantly lower than that of CON. Despite low volume, the effect of intermittent exercise on arterial stiffness could be either equal or superior to that of higher-volume continuous exercise.

Highlights

MethodsThe response ⊿CAVI to exercise were analyzed by 4 separate two-factor repeated-measures ANOVAs in the form of 3 (group) × 3 (time), with Bonferroni post-test to determine the time point at which the significant difference between trials occurred
The main finding of the present study was that low-volume intermittent exercise with longer interval benefited arterial stiffness to the same extent as higher-volume continuous exercise in healthy young men
Shortening the interval of intermittent exercise resulted in greater arterial stiffness improvement, and the effects could be further enhanced by more fragmentation of the exercise

Summary

Methods

The response ⊿CAVI to exercise were analyzed by 4 separate two-factor repeated-measures ANOVAs in the form of 3 (group) × 3 (time), with Bonferroni post-test to determine the time point at which the significant difference between trials occurred. To observe the time course of ⊿CAVI dynamics in ISS trial, one-way ANOVA with repeated measures with Bonferroni post-tests was performed.

Results

Discussion

Summary